A show of transparency:  Regional head aspirants submit reports of their wealth to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in Jakarta, on Friday. As many as 602 candidates who will run in this December'€™s simultaneous local elections had submitted their reports as of Friday. (JP/DON)

A show of transparency:  Regional head aspirants submit reports of their wealth to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in Jakarta, on Friday. As many as 602 candidates who will run in this December'€™s simultaneous local elections had submitted their reports as of Friday. (JP/DON)

With only a day to spare before the registration period for politically backed candidates opens on Sunday, political parties are scrambling to meet election requirements set by the election committee.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) revealed on Friday that only half of the political parties had submitted an SK kepengurusan tingkat pusat (letter declaring political party leadership). This is a main election requirement, which will be used to verify candidates in the regions when the registration period kicks off.

According to KPU commissioner Ferry Rizkiyansyah, the election body had only received decrees from the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Democratic Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

'€œWe need to have these documents on file to distribute to the regional KPU branches before registration opens. This is a basic prerequisite that supports the candidacy process in the region,'€ Ferry told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Ferry said that there was no leeway to extend the registration deadline to accommodate any possible delays by the parties.

Separately, fellow KPU commissioner Hadar Nafis Gumay urged the remaining parties to hand in copies of the decree by Sunday.

A day earlier, PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said that the party had to cut short its leadership training program at its Regional Elections Candidate Academy in Depok, West Java, in order to catch up on the paperwork for the registration.

'€œ[On Thursday] we invited the KPU to conduct a technical briefing at the academy, and it turns out they now require candidates to submit all the requirements upfront, instead of registering them first and completing their dossier later,'€ Hasto told the Post.

Also on Thursday, PKB chairman Muhaimin Iskandar revealed that a number of legislators from his party had backed away from signing up as candidates in the upcoming elections, due to a recent Constitutional Court (MK) ruling requiring sworn-in lawmakers to step down from their posts in order to qualify as a candidate.

'€œWe'€™re quite disappointed with the MK, as they always manage to make [important] last-minute decisions that change the constellation [of our candidates],'€ Muhaimin said.

Muhaimin said that the court ruling made the party rethink its candidate choices in 91 regions, leading those still holding positions in the House of Representatives to give up their election runs.

The court ruling challenged Article 7 of the 2015 Regional Heads Law, altering existing stipulations that civil servants and law enforcers must relinquish their posts in order to run in elections, to include lawmakers.

Meanwhile, an ongoing legal spat between two Golkar Party factions has come to a head.

A North Jakarta District Court ruling on Friday handed authority of Golkar leadership back to Aburizal Bakrie'€™s camp, potentially marring the current agreement that Aburizal and Agung Laksono'€™s camps would jointly nominate the same candidate pairings in order to avoid forfeiting the elections altogether.

Yorrys Raweyai, a senior politician from Agung'€™s faction, said that the previous political deal struck between the camps needed to be respected.

KPU chairman Husni Kamil Malik said that both the PPP and Golkar would have to abide by the latest agreement to jointly nominate candidates, as stipulated in KPU Regulation (PKPU) No. 12/2015.

'€œThe PKPU provides guidelines for the regional elections, so all political parties are encouraged to refer to it,'€ Husni told reporters on Friday.

In order to ensure that all registration procedures were kept in line with the PKPU, Husni said the central election body had given the required instructions and guidelines to its regional branches, in addition to issuing a circular to elaborate on a number of issues that regional bodies might come up against.

Any violations of the regulations issued by the KPU would be processed in accordance to the code of ethics, he added. (ind)

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